Governor OKs Funds to Show Indian Artifacts

Gov. George Deukmejian signed a bill Friday appropriating $195,000 to display Indian artifacts unearthed in the discovery of the “Lost Village of Encino.”

The artifacts--pottery, stone tools, arrowheads, beads and bones--will be displayed on the second floor of the Garnier House in Los Encinos State Park.

They were discovered during construction of an office building at the southeast corner of Ventura Boulevard and Balboa Boulevard, across the street from the park. Workers excavating for the foundation found remains of the village believed to have been the home of Chumash and Gabrieleno Indians who lived in the San Fernando Valley for centuries before the arrival of Spanish explorers.

It was known from Spanish records that the village was in that general area, but for years archeologists had hunted in vain for it.

The governor signed a measure, written by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), allocating funds to the state Department of Parks and Recreation to mount the display and provide parking. Robbins originally asked $11 million for construction of a museum but has said he is satisfied with the smaller appropriation.

Still to be settled is a claim by archeologist Nancy A. Whitney-Desautels of Huntington Beach, who supervised the excavation under a state law requiring builders who uncover ancient sites to hire an archeologist.

Whitney-Desautels has the artifacts in her possession and has said she will not release them until she is paid the $350,000 she contends is owed her for archeological work at the site.